TEWKSBURY -- Voters got their first look at U.S. Senate candidates Gabriel Gomez and Daniel Winslow Saturday afternoon when the rivals for the Republican nomination stopped by Town Hall for stump speeches and handshakes.

Gomez, the son of Colombian immigrants who attended the Naval Academy and served as a pilot on an aircraft carrier and then as a Navy SEAL before graduating from Harvard Business School and entering the private sector, touted his lack of experience in politics "as a badge of honor."

Gomez has never held elected office.

"I think the problem we have right now is that we have too many career politicians in D.C.," Gomez said. "I think they need fresh people with fresh ideas and solutions that have been proven."

Gomez said he has seen the damage regulations and Obamacare can do since he has worked for 16 years as an investment manager for Boston-based Advent International.

"In doing that, I've seen exactly what the burden is on businesses these days," Gomez said.

Winslow, of Wrentham, began his stump speech by singling out Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, for his "old-fashioned" filibuster in the Senate on Wednesday, when Paul held up the nomination of CIA Director John Brennan until he could get answers on the Obama administration's position on using drones to kill Americans on U.S. soil.

Winslow said he tweeted at the time that he would stand with Paul and help him if he were in the Senate. Gomez, too, voiced support for Paul for defending his principals.

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Winslow also took aim at "scare tactics" he said Democrats have used regarding sequester, which Winslow said will cut "less than 3 percent of the rate of increase in federal spending."

Noting that the White House has stopped giving tours because of claims there is no money for the tours, which cost the government about $18,000 a week, Winslow cited other items that the government still has money for.

He said $277,000 per year is spent to employ three caligraphers at the White House. He said the Environmental Protection Agency recently spent $141,000 to study swine manure in China.

Most notably, he said, the National Science Foundation recently gave out a $325,000 grant to build a robotic squirrel.

"Talk about nuts," Winslow said. "But no money for White House tours."

Gomez, Winslow and former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan are vying for their party's nomination in the race to succeed U.S. Sen. John Kerry, who has become secretary of state. Democrats Edward Markey and Stephen Lynch, both congressmen, and battling on the Democratic side.

Saturday's event was expected to be the first event at which all three GOP challengers would attend. Sullivan was invited by the Tewksbury Republican Town Committee but did not attend, to the disappointment of Selectman Doug Sears.

Sears said he was impressed with Gomez's background and "plain-spoken" personality.

"He built his life in a very positive fashion, and we need people like that," Sears said.

Sears said he has long known Winslow, and said he as great ideas developed from his experience.

Jean Williams, of Tewksbury, had similar thoughts about Gomez and Winslow, and said she will choose based on the candidates' positions on immigration and the sequester. A Raytheon employee, Williams is particularly concerned about the sequester.

Han Bernier, of Tewksbury, said he will choose between the three Republican candidates based on how conservative they are and how "true they are to the party." He said all three candidates are better than he expected.

A UMass Lowell/Boston Herald poll last week showed Markey, a Malden Democrat, with a commanding lead over all other candidates for the Senate seat. The poll also showed a large majority of voters are not yet familiar with the Republican candidates, meaning there is a lot of room for polls to shift before the June 25 special election.

"It looks good for the Republicans," Bernier said.

Winslow said that after the April 30 primary, all three Republican candidates will come together to oppose the Democratic nominee.

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